letting go of sunk costs

I recently caught up with a friend who was lamenting the fact that he spent 4 years getting a degree in computer science only to realize that he didn’t want to be a software engineer.

‘What a waste’, he said.

Here was my response to him:

It was in class during those 4 years that he met many of his lifelong friends that he wouldn’t have necessarily come into contact with if he’d pursued something else. So calling that time a total waste isn’t exactly the most accurate characterization.

What’s really going on is that the four years didn’t pan out as he expected.

He was coming to terms with the fact that he’s allowed to change his mind — that one’s previous actions don’t obligate their future actions.